Everybody deserves happiness
by Narutosmother
Summary: naruto has been living in suna for the past 12 years, he is happy for the first time in a long time but what happens when he has to go back to konoha? what will gaara do without his bestfriend? and what has sasuke got to do with all of this?
1. Chapter 1

Happiness. That's what naruto felt right now, he was in the training grounds in sunagakure, there was blood dripping from his upper arm, and he was pretty sure that he had a broken rib or two and he was certain bruises would bloom everywhere by tomorrow. Even in this state he was happy because he was surrounded by the one person that made him _feel._ The wind blew the sand around him and revealed the figure opposite him, unlike naruto who was staggering on his feet; his sparring partner had barely been even fazed. The 15 year old naruto smiled and charged again at his opponent, who in turn caught the ninja before he collided with the ground exhaustion finally taking a toll on him after hours of sparring.

A/N this is just a prologue, i am currently working on chapter one, please be patient with me i am a novice and its my first time writing a naruto fanfic, i got the idea from 'the walking corpse' and i wanted to try it out, please rate and support me~ i will try my best.

p.s i also write fanfiction on aff, just search up my user name if you want to read any corny stories.^^


	2. Chapter 2

_Naruto stared at the white bed covers covering his lap, where was he? Was the first thought that occurred, the second that came was, who was he? His eyes searched the room, looking for signs, answers, anything familiar that might tell him of his identity. Nothing._

_The door opened and a tall busty woman with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail came in, he had a diamond tattooed on the centre of her forehead. Behind her came a boy with crimson red hair, and a big gourd tied to his back, he was floating! Naruto thought with a realization, he was floating on a plate of sand. He was suddenly scared, these people could be here to hurt him for all he knew, He looked at the boy and for a split second an image passed though his head, it was of the red-haired boy just standing in front and nothing else._

_He looked at the woman who was tending to somebody else behind the curtain that separated the beds._

"_naruto" the red-haired boy called and he turned his attention to him. Was that my name? naruto. "Naruto look at me" he said sitting at the edge of naruto's bed._

"_Who are you?" he said quietly, naruto was confused and scared and frustrated with himself because what kind of idiot doesn't remember his own name?! The boy in front of him looked shocked, he turned to the woman who had pushed aside the curtain and came to stand in front of naruto. She looked saddened a bit, the woman lifted a palm to naruto's forehead and a green glow came into naruto's field of sight._

"_Brain damage" she whispered, the boy infront of naruto looked at him with eyes that showed sadness, relief, anger and…Pain? The glow stopped and the woman took the chair beside his bed, taking his trembling hand into hers and looking at him,smiling sadly._

"_Your name is naruto, you are thirteen years old, my name is tsunade and this is your friend" she address the red-haired boy "gaara"_

"_gaara" naruto repeated._

"_You suffered a terrible head wound a couple of weeks ago on a mission" she continued._

"_Mission?" naruto asked._

"_Yes, that's your job, you're a shinobi of konoha, one of the best" she smiled patiently brushing away his interruption._

"_you got hurt really badly, we were afraid we might lose you , but then you are so strong you pulled through, just like you always do" naruto nodded and smiled weakly at her._

"_How did I get hurt?" he asked quietly._

"_You were saving a friend" gaara answered, naruto thought long and hard on the new information her learned, a friend? _

"_who?" gaara and tsunade shared a look of uncertainty before tsunade pulled the curtain that sepearted his bed from the other and revealed a boy, about the same age as gaara, he had black hair and sickly pale skin and he looked really badly hurt. He had multiple bandages on his arms and legs and his chest moved in shallow quick movements as if it hurt to breathe._

_Naruto looked at the boy but nothing came to him, no memories, no images flashing before his eyes. Nothing,he frowned and looked away staing at gaara across from him instead, his face looked familiar in a homely kind of way, his eyes reminded him of some sadness they must have shared at some point, and the tattoo on his forehead made him smile because who would get a tattoo on their forehead?_

_Tsunade let the curtain fall, the turned to the Iv drip connected to narutos wrist, he turned up the drip speed, the drug quickly taking effect on the tired shinobi's body. The last thing he felt was gaara slowly lowering him down on the pillows, and darkness fell over him._

_The next time he opened his eyes, the room was dark and there was hushed voices coming from behind the door that was left ajar, he could see garaa's gourd from where he was but nothing else, so he listened._

"_it's for the best" that voice was garaa's._

"_what will I say to his friends? Sakura, shikamaru, kiba , hinata and so many others" tsunade, her voice sounded strained. There was silence for a while, then gaara spoke up._

"_fake his death"_

"_what?" a new voice said as if he discovered that the earth was in fact not a square._

"_fake his death, that way no one will come looking for him, and he will be able to recover peacefully, and he wont be bound by obligation to come back for his friends" gaara said, his voice calm and smooth_

"_but" tsunade said " sasuke will be sentenced to death for killing a comrade"_

"_genjutsu, tell them you found traces of genjutsu in his head and change sasukes real memory, you're the best medical nin out there and the hokage, you can pull off something" he said, words coming out in a slow pace that sounded soothing in narutos broken mind._

_More silence, there was a remorseful feeling in the air, that naruto didn't like, what were they talking about, their conversation made no sense to naruto._

"_fine" tsunade said reluctantly, there was some shuffling noises as the occupants of the hallway made their way into the room, tsunade's eyes widened at the sight of him awake._

"_you heard?" she asked hesitantly._

"_just a bit" his own voice was hoarse from disuse. "didn't understand a thing though" he smiled weakly._

_She nodded and let the others into the room, there were four people other than tsunade, one was gaara and the other three he didn't recognize. A frown ghosted over his face as he looked at the new people in the room._

_Gaara came to the foot of his bed and leaned againt the railing, smiling softly at naruto._

"_you're going to be going somewhere with me for a while okay?" he asked slowly. Naruto tilted his head to the side curiosity clear on his face._

"_why?" he asked, pushing himself on his elbows._

"_so you can heal better" tsunade said helping naruto sit up, gaara nodded and looked at the other people in the room._

"_im going to transfer his records to suna" one of the other three said, he had a mask on with only one eye visible, he had silver hair and in narutos broken mind it looked strange and abnormal._

"_just hand them to me, my father will handle the rest" gaara said, eyes not leaving naruto._

_The one-eyed man left in a cloud of smoke, naruto looked at space he once was in surprise. _

"_he went poof" naruto whispered. The man with a single scar across his nose gave a small laugh and sat on the other side of narutos bed, he hand came to rest of top of narutos head._

"_My name is iruka" he said softly, naruto looked at him closely, no recognition came to him._

"_be good in suna, okay? I'm not going to be there to take care of you and feed you ramen, but gaara is going to take care of you and don't bother him too much" irukas eyes started watering, he turned to gaara and continued " try feeding him his vegetables, he will put a fuss but try to make him eat it, please? Don't let him eat ramen too much, he gets sick. Naruto feels cold easily, even in the summer." He paused and took a shaky breath " he is allergic to shellfish and hates coconuts and cinnamon. He likes chocolate except the ones with caramal and hates it when the his night-light is not on" he broke down completely, naruto looked at iruka and took his sleeve, tugging on it gently. iruka looked at him with tears running down his face. Slowly he tucked his legs underneath him and pushed himself forward, he rested his head down on irukas lap and pulled his knees upto his chest. Iruka put his hand on the head in his lap and ran his hands through the blonde lock. Tears continued to run down his face._

_The last of the 3 people came in his field of vision; the man had long spikey white hair and red lines tattooed under each eye._

"_my name is jiraiya" he smiled a small smile then placed a small thin book in his hands. 'take this to suna with you, it was your favorite story when you trained with me" he took the book in his hands and read tittle 'he tales of a gutsy ninja'. He smiled back at jiraiya and heard a few beeping noises, became drowsy and fell asleep before he could think of things to say back to the occupants of the room._

* * *

'whats for lunch?' naruto bounded into the kitchen, towel drying his hair, he was clad fully in his orange pajamas and spongebob t-shirt. temari looked up from her place behind the kitchen counter.

"take out" she said taking out a few containers.

"aah! why?" naruto whined, slumping down in his seat at the table.

"because kankuro is still not back from his mission and gramma chiyo cant come everynight just to cook you food" she said placing the bowl of rice infront of naruto, who in turn pouted.

"where's gaara?" naruto said through a mouthful of rice, temari winced at his actions but didnt say anything knowing it was completely useless to teach the sixteen year-old anything.

"still in the kazekage tower i presume" naruto bit his lower lip thinking hard.

"when was the last time gaara took a break from his kazekage-in-training duties?" naruto asked taking another spoonful of rice and curry.

"dunno"temari shrugged.

they finished their meal in comfortable silence, naruto cleaned the table while temari put the plates in the dishwasher. once the kitchen was cleaned out naruto went back to his bedroom. he slumped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

it had been three years when he had woken up to complete memory loss, he could barely remember the few people he met in konohagakure and couldnt remember anything else before that. he had figured out the presence of the kyuubi inside him after a few weeks in suna when he had accidentally entered his 'mind cave' as he gaara called it. the whole ordeal had been very stressing for his part, why hadnt anyone told him of the other living thing inside of him? uptill now the kyuubi barely bothered naruto and only poked around naruto's mind for entertainment to his endless boredom.

he fell asleep thinking of gaara and the other living thing with _him. _ they were similar in that way, they both understood each other in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

Gaara stood on the roof of the kage tower, the desert wind blowing his crimson clothes and hair. As a sand shinobi it was strange to be wearing dark clothes cause camouflage was easier with light colored clothes, but gaara was no ordinary sand shinobi. He was the son of the kazekage and the future godaime. It was a fact everyone in the village had accepted, there were protest but no one could over rule the word of his father who already announced the next kage to the village.

Nobody dared to harass him like they previously used to, afraid of what gaara might to do once his father stepped down, but no one openly came to accept him either. Raising eyes to the sky that had only a few stars littered here and there he prayed for a better future for him and for the village. He held no ill feeling to the village, shikaku had terrorized them for years, and the villagers were channeling their fear for shikaku into hatred for gaara. If he looked from their point of view, maybe he would hate the carrier of the one tail as well.

'**it's not my fault' ** shikaku spoke in his head.

"then whose fault is it?" gaara mused.

'**they were trying to capture and use me!' ** he replied angrily giving gaara a headache.

"I know, I don't blame you" shikaku was surprised by the reply. "I blame the system" he didnt respond.

He lowered his head to the village laid out in front on him, it was late and only a few lights were lit, he'd have to go home soon. Naruto would be waiting for him, he smiled a bit at the thought of naruto waiting patiently for him, it wasn't possible for the blonde to stay still and patiently wait for him, it was easier to imagine him yelling at everyone and jumping around. He built his usual circular platform of sand and flew back to his house.

…..

"another D rank?" naruto threw his hands up in despair, a smile ghosted over gaara's face at the blondes antics. The other jounins beside him weren't so pleased with the way the blonde spoke to them.

"as you still are under the rank of genin, it wouldn't be wise to hand the S ranked ones to you, naruto-san" gaaras father spoke, the fingers intertwined in front of his mouth.

"I know that old man kazekage but helping old ladies after old ladies is making me old!" naruto argued back. A nerve twitched on the kazekages forehead, old man? It wasn't like he could do anything about this ordeal, he promised tsunade to keep narutos mission low level, to protect the annoying konoha brat.

"how about this" gaara spoke lifting a piece of document, everyone in the room was shocked by gaaras sudden participation in the conversation "it's a C rank mission, escorting a group of farmers into kusagakure, the journey will take atleast a week or two"

Naruto bit his lower lip, the mission didn't sound much fun but it was a lot better than old ladies and he got a chance to see kusagakure, it was a golden opportunity in narutos eyes.

"deal!" naruto nodded, a grin breaking through.

"be ready in five hours"

"yes sir!" with that the blonde bounded out of the room.

The kazekage frowned but before he could voice his opinion gaara spoke "I'll tell him to wear the bandana-hitaiate and put on the anbu mask." The kaze nodded, and then turned to his papers, a new batch of genin to give mission to came in and he turned his attention to the excited kids.

….

Naruto was sad-happy, he was sad because he hadn't showered for a week and a half, he was filthy and hurt because he was ambushed on his way back by anbu he didn't know because they were all hooded And masked ,He wasn't badly hurt just a few scrapes and bruises but he had to stay clear of those ninjas, it was a six to one match and naruto wasn't sure he'd get away with just a few scrapes this time. On the other hand he was happy because it had been months since the last time he felt the exhilaration of a fight, no spar could ever compare to the adrenaline of a real battle and the fresh damp air of the forest was so soothing and cool, a contrast to the hot desert air and sand getting in your nose.

His mask was still intact and did its job of hiding his face, the bandana-hitaiate concealed his hair but his suna garment did nothing to camouflage him in the trees. His clothes were light coloured and made him stand out like a firefly. He couldn't hide, so he decided to run.

Mustering as much energy as possible he pushed himself off the tree and sprinted, spending years in sunagakures sand he was used to his foot getting stuck will running but the trees were a welcomed change, his years in suna made him light footed and quick.

He was still atleast a hundred or so yards from the border of suna, once he got through he could hide in the sand but till then he had to go as fast as possible. As he made his next leap he felt rather than heard the people who attacked him come up a few meters behind him.

'**you're going to get caught' **he heard the kitsune inside his head, naruto did his best to ignore him and picked up his speed. he dodged the kunai thrown at him and leaped onto the next branch, he still had 50 yards to go.

'**you're going to get caught' ** naruto could feel the kyuubi's impatience with him but didn't give him any attention. His legs felt weak and wobbled the further and faster he went, he felt a sudden burst of chakra in his legs and could feel the foxes amusement.

Only a few more yards were left and naruto was feeling hopeful, he wouldn't get caught! He would go back home to gaara, yes gaara was waiting for home so he had to get back. Deep in thought he didn't realize his chasers had thrown more kunias at his back. One of which lodged deep under his right shoulder blade, forcing itself in-between two ribs and cracking them both.

The last thought that occurred to him before he blacked out was '_gaara is going to kill me'_

Sasukes pov.

This one was a hard one to catch, he poked the figure laying on the floor with his foot and pulled out his kunai out of the falled suna anbu's back. No matter how good the relationship between suna and konoha were. Crossing borders without permission was still unacceptable in his books.

"captain are you sure this is alright?" dog said, carefully binding the falled anbu. Sasuke didn't reply he did his job and that's it.

"leave the mask on" he said to the others "hes the hokages to unmask" the five others nodded before picking up the unconscious anbu and leaping into the trees. He glanced at the blood on the grass and decided it wasn't worth his time.

Leaping to the trees he made his way back to konoha, not knowing who was under the fox mask wearing sunagakure's anbu uniform.


	4. Chapter 4

gaara was pacing in his fathers office, he never paced, which was why many other nins were getting nervous. 2 weeks had passed and naruto was supposed to be back yesterday but he was late, he wanted to go out and search for him but he had to wait for the mandatory 48 hours before a search party could be sent out. bullshit, he thought to himself.

the clock struck 12 noon "send out the tracker hounds" he snapped,somebody left the room but he couldnt be bothered. they waited some more.

a few hours later a message came in, they tracked narutos scent near the konoha-suna border, a patch of blood was found and nothing else.

the clock struck 12 midnight and gaara was out of the room before anyone could say anything, kankuro and temari close behind. he was determined to bring naruto back and kill anyone who laid a finger on him.

...

tsunade massaged her temple,there were several reasons for her new headache, for one there was an unconcious suna anbu on the floor infront of her, the other reasons had to do, with her paperwork but that could be left for another time.

'dont you realize that this puts out peace with suna into jeopardy'

sasuke didnt answer he just stared at her with a poker face. this just resulted in tsunade getting more agitated, she felt like beating the shit out of him but she couldnt kill her own anbu captain.

"get out of my sight" she snapped, sasuke left without a word.

"the kazekage is not going to be happy about this" she got up from her seat and knelled beside the unconscious fox anbu on her floor -hesitant- she lifted the mask off his face and a small gasp left her lips.

the familiar face was like a punch in the gut, he had changed alot in the past 12 years-bigger, more angular and hard in his form. no longer the child that fit in her arms but a man that was strong and...bleeding on her floor. cursing under her breath she pushed him to lie face down and started healing him, the wound wasnt fatal, just very...bloody.

she put the mask back on once the wound was relatively healed enough,then called a few chunins to carry him to the hospital.

...

it was a day and a half before naruto woke up, he looked at the semi familiar white hospital room and then started freaking out. his bandana was still on but his mask had been taken off and was now lying on the table beside him, without a further thought he grabbed the mask and made his way out of the the window.

how long had he been unconscious? he had to get back to suna,the slight agitation to his left shoulder was proof that he had been attacked but people, and now he was in unfamiliar territory, keeping his senses on high alert he made his way to the large walls beyond which was his freedom, he hoped it was atleast.

...

gaara made it outside konoha one fifth of the time it would take a normal ninja to, desperation some called it but i'd like to use the term 'determined'.sasuke stared at the three figures coming towards them very fast and very furiously,at once he was on defensive mode, he met the three halfway on the road and held up a hand to stop them. the three sand nins came to a halt in front of sasuke, gaara opened his mouth to speak but stopped when something came in an alarming speed and successfully knocked him down on his butt. his sand shield must be malfunctioning. when he saw the fox mask, he immediately pushed that thought and pulled the figure closer to himself.

sasuke stared at the figure, cradled protectively in gaaras arms. the mask and hitaite covering the persons identity but the wound on his back was enough to tell him that it was the anbu he had shot down.

the fox anbu whispered something to gaara to which said person frowned a bit and then nodded. the fox slowly got on his feet and pulled gaara to his feet as well.

'lets leave' gaara turned and started to make his way back, but the fox anbu stayed and stared at sasuke. to naruto this was the person that was in the hospital with him at the time he woke up. he might know who he was before he woke up, this person might unlock the memories he had lost ten years ago.

he took a step towards the raven,then another and another. he felt gaaras grip on his wrist,he looked at the red head. eyes begging to let go and to let him for once pursue his lost memories.

gaaras face turned from determined to yielding under narutos unwavering gaze, the grip on the blondes wrist loosened allowing naruto to continue his way towards the raven.

the closer naruto got the more cautious sasuke got, he pulled out his katana from its hoister, putting a distance between him and naruto.

'who are you?' sasuke gripped the handle with both hands. naruto was confused but then he remembered that he still had his mask on. with a chuckle he reached behind his head and pulled the elastic that held the mask to his face and pulled the mask off his face.

then he reached up and pulled the hitaite off his head, revealing the mop of blonde hair underneath it. sasuke stared, his eyes were receiving the correct image and the nerves that sent the image to his brain were working fine but his brain refused to accept the information that was sent.

naruto was standing in front of him, naruto that was supposedly dead because of him, naruto that died trying to get him back. naruto that died twelve years ago was standing in front of him.

he was wearing the suna uniform but that could be sorted out later, his hands had dropped his katana a long time ago and now his trecerous feet were carrying him forward to naruto. shaking hands reached up to the whisker marked cheeks that haunted his nightmares for years.

'naruto?' his voice shook, emotion that he had crushed had come back. emotion that he turned away from when tsunade told him naruto was dead, emotion of losing his best friend came back like a tsunami and crushed him.

the blonde nodded and pressed himself against the hand that was reaching for him, this person was important to naruto, he was sure of it. the way the person reacted was proof enough that he knew naruto insomeway or the other.

just then tsunade jumped through the tree canopy, and landed right infront of naruto.

sasuke jumped back to make space for the lady and quickly put his mask back on.

'gaara,i am sorry for the behaviour of my anbu' tsunade said turning to the next generation kazekage. gaara turned his glare towards the hokage but decided not to hold grudges for the sake of peace.

'its fine, i have what i came here for we're leaving' he turned towards naruto but the blonde was still focusing on sasuke who in turn was having a mental breakdown.

'can i stay?' narutos voice broke through the silence like a knife, gaara had dreaded this might happen. konoha was narutos home it shouldnt be a surprise that he wouldve wanted to stay when he got the chance.

gaaras' exterior was calm, his insides on the other hand were having a turmoil between dragging naruto back to suna by using his superior authority and letting naruto have his way, but ofcourse naruto always got his way. "if thats what you want"

with one last smile at naruto, gaara turned on his heel, he walked towards his siblings and disappeared into the forest.

naruto stared at the spot where gaara had disappeared, there was a heavy feeling in his heart like as if he wasnt supposed to be doing what he was doing. he was going to regret this wasnt he?


	5. Chapter 5

konoha was different from suna in many ways and similar in some. the air in konoha had moisture and cool,the ground was more solid and damp, the flora was almost over grown in some areas and finally the people didnt call out to him-maybe that had to do with the fact that his hitaite and mask were back on, but the people in suna recognized him even in disguise. the people of konoha on the other hand stepped away from him, scurrying away and making themselves busy with one thing or another.

tsunade led them to the east side of konoha, the roads became smaller the further they went making naruto feel anxious and the walk he learned that the black haired konoha anbu was named sasuke uchiha,and that he never knew of my memory loss, he was shocked to say the least. he also learned that many of his previous friends,classmates and villagers thought he was dead.

when they finally reached a small apartment complex that was hidden under the bigger buildings shadows naruto had given up his hopes that he was previously the son of a rich air smelt of urine and sewage, the building itself looked gloomy and at the brink of crushing under the weight of nothingness.

he was taken to a small apartment, a single rectangular room had a mattress strewn in the middle of the room, a small gas stove stood in one corner- a rusty kettle beside it with a few other pots and empty food packages everywhere. there was another door that naruto suspected was a bathroom.  
he stepped into the room and scrunched up his nose in distaste, this is where he used to live? it was so different from his room in suna that it was almost pathetic, an images of cold nights and dark days flashed across his eyes,thankful for the mask that hid his expressions. it confirmed the fact that, yes, this was his home before suna.

"um" tsunade cleared her throat "i dont think this place is suitable for you to live in"

naruto stared at her for a moment before he snorted "then why did i live here before?"

she was silent, a look of self loathing fell over her face before she shook her head and looked up at him with remorseful eyes.  
"i never knew, hokage i was but i never actually came to your house" "neither did i" sasuke spoke up from the doorway. "in fact from what i remember you never let anyone enter your house"  
naruto left it at that, turning he went and toed the mattress, he contemplated for a minute then said "i'll stay here"  
tsunade opened her mouth to argue but he raised his hand to stop her "i lived here before, i can live here again"  
she looked like she was going to argue but then thought against it, if thats what he wanted but that wasnt going to stop her from sending a few supplies to improve the apartment.

when they left,naruto went around for more exploring. there was a small cabinet in the bathroom that had a few articles of clothing that were much too small now so he threw them out-but not before he scolded himself for his bad choice of clothing color-he also threw out the old toiletries and replaced them with his new ones.

he made a few clones to clean up the place and another to get some food, he'd have to go buy better furniture tomorrow but he didnt have the will power yet.  
once all his clones were dispelled the tiny apartment didnt look as bad as before, he slumped on the newly cleaned up mattress and lied down facing the ceiling with his fingers intertwined under his head. he missed his red headed friend, more than he'd like to admit, the past few days were taking a toll on his body and he fell asleep with the thought of gaara. man he needed help.

naruto had come to realize his feelings of affection ran deeper than that of friendship or brotherhood, three years after he moved into suna. gaara had gone to an S ranked mission and came back bloody and lifeless in kankuro's puppet. they had allowed him in the operating room with temari by his side and at one point the heart rate machine gave a long bleep that went on for what seemed like a Millenia. his heart had stopped and so did narutos. it was when gaara had been dangles before him in the hands of death that naruto realised how much he wanted, needed gaara in his life. he was narutos personal...rock. someone to stabilize him, someone to lean againt when he needed, someone strong and dependable, someone who didnt care if naruto was broken and battered.

when gaara was out of the intensive care unit and into a hospital room, naruto had stayed by his bedside for 3 days straight and when gaara woke up, naruto broke down-crying.

he didnt have the courage to tell gaara about his epiphany though, he locked up those feelings in his treasure chest for years.

naruto woke up to sun light assaulting his face, the sun wasnt as harsh as sunagakures sun but it still bothered needed curtains.

mustering up all his will power, he pushed himself of the lumpy uncomfortable dragged his feet into the bathroom and turned on the shower, it was the coldest shower he ever took.  
he didnt have any other clothes with him so he just put his anbu uniform back on, going outside seemed the only thing he could do so he did do just that.  
with his bandana hitaite and mask in place he dashed out the room in search for some adventure.

then stopped dead in his tracks, he didnt have a clue where he was going so he walked onwards at a slow pace. looking at everything in sight. the more closer he got to the centre of the village the more people showed up.  
the streets became wider and more crowded, laughter and chattering sounded off in the air and it became apparent to naruto that konoha wasnt very different from suna at all.

people still avoided him but it didnt bother him...much.

naruto entered the nearest market to buy a few read-to-go snacks and bought himself said snacks, he'd do some proper shopping later on but for now this would have to do.

naruto walked further north into the village, his apartment was in the east side of konoha, the large space of forest covered the west and half of the south and the north side was full of large gigantic houses. the further he went, the bigger the houses got and the more magnificent the got, it didnt feel right coming here, he felt out of place with his worn out anbu uniform and shabby clothes, so he turned around and made his way back out, he wouldve been successful to if it wasnt for a voice that stopped him.  
"naruto!" he turned around to see sasuke uchiha coming towards him, he wore a tshirt and baggy shorts in favour of his anbu uniform, and had his mask off.

"dont say my name out loud" naruto said once uchiha had caught up.  
"why?" a dark eyebrow rose up.  
"i am supposed to be dead, and i'd rather keep it that way" naruto said, turning to continue his exploring of the village. uchiha followed him.  
"and may i ask why you would do this, when you have returned to your own village?"  
naruto didnt answer, he wasnt obliged to answer uchihas question he just continued his trek towards the southern side of the village, the walk was silent and naruto was thankful for that since had decided to follow him, when he reached the his destination he discovered that the southern side was full of kids and teenagers alike sparing, the academy being at the centre of what seemed like a large circular training ground. each divided by a wooden fence, like slices of a pizza.

each training slice had a different terrain for a different type of training, there was one that was completely made of large rocks and another one that had more that three quarters of it covered in water.  
naruto stepped into the one that was completely covered in sand, which was empty. figures- the students here probably thought that the training for sand type fights were useless, the ground did a good job of imitating the sandy terrain of suna but it still lacked a few minor details-like the sand was cool rather than hot and it was harder than the one surrounding suna which would suck up ninjas in a heart beat had they not been trained for it before hand.

he heard a familiar shriek overhead and looked up to see gaaras personal falcon fly towards him in her red flaming glory, hino landed on his outstreched forearm and nipped his finger affectionately.  
naruto released her of her scroll that was tied to her back then and then she flew off into the sky with a final shriek which she always did.

naruto stared at the familiar crest of the kazekage,fear of being closely watched by the uchiha he put the scroll in his back pocked to read later in the privacy of his apartment.

he turned around to see uchiha talking to an anbu, uchiha nodded at the anbu and turned to look at naruto.  
"tsunade sama has summoned us" with that unchiha jumped up to the nearest roof top and continued towards the hokage tower.  
naruto rolled his eyes and walked towards the tower, instead of spending useless energy. he arrived two minutes later than the uchiha and knocked on the hokages door.  
"come in" he heard from inside. she was sitting behind her desk and looked pleased with herself to say the least.  
"sit down, if you please" she indicated to the chair infront of her desk. naruto sat down, the uchiha was no where to be seen and it was only the two of them in the room.

"i took the liberty of trying to change your living quarters from that old apartment to a better suited home" she said and pulled out a scroll from her drawer."but aparently lord kazekage had already thought of that and sent me a scroll requesting that i make arrangements for you, all payments have already been paid in full"  
naruto stared at her in shock, not that anyone could tell from behind his mask.  
"you are to stay in a fully furnished house located in the west of konoha,situated in the forest for your complete peace and quiet." she smiled at him before continuing "the house originally belonged to the fourth hokage and now is yours"  
"mine? why!?" naruto spluttered in confusion.  
"well according to the records the fourth hokage had registered a single child, a boy, under his family name. a child named naruto" she looked at him knowingly, how could she have missed the resemblance.  
"the record was until now hidden with the third hokages possessions, but after some digging it was brought back to light"  
narutos brain fought to process all of this, all these years he thought he was the last child of an unknown clan and now he was being told that he was practically royalty.  
"this then forces me to send back all the funds sent by the kazekage since the house and all of your parents previous possessions now belong to you, including all the money that was left" she continued, then handed him the scroll "this is a scroll that was supposed to be given to you during your eighteenth birthday but you were never here to recieve it."  
with shaking hands naruto took the scroll and stared at it, it had a yellow star on a blue background etched on it, he loooked up to see tsunade smiling at him with soft understanding eyes.  
he got up and slowly made his way out of the hokage tower, his feet slowly took him onwards without any perticular destination in mind, the scroll in his hand felt heavy and there was a lump in his throat.

he had spent many years in suna, hoping for a family that missed him, gaara had told him countless times that there wasnt any siblings or parents waiting for him but naruto still hoped and now all those hopes and dreams came crashing down. he truly didnt have any family, sure temari and kankuro filled the void of siblings but there wasnt anything that could fill the emptiness that came with the lack of parents love.  
the fourth hokage was his father, he had heard the stories about him in suna, how he had died protecting the village from the nine tailed fox and placed it into a child. naruto had cursed the man before because HE was the child in the story but now he just felt betrayed, his own father had done this to him, condemned him to a life of being chained to a beast.

"you're being pouty" kyuubi said, breaking his 3 day silence.  
naruto didnt answer back,he heart was heavy with emotion. he had parents once, parents that might have loved him at some point.

the sun was slowly setting when he reached his apartment then cursed himself because now he could live in his parents old home. if he was being honest with himself, he wasnt really angry at his parents for abandoning him, he was sad, but he felt more relieved that atleast he had parents.  
he walked towards the west side of the village and into the forest, it took him atleast 30 minutes to find the house.  
it was a 2 story house with a typical japanese design, he could hear running water which meant a river or a stream was nearby and a small abandoned garden sat beside the house over run with weeds and wild flowers.

author:- please do bear with my silly mistakes, i tend to do that alot. and i do not have a beta. this isnt proof read either so i made a lot of mistakes.  
do help yourself to point them out. 


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